Adhesive slide fastener installation

ABSTRACT

A slide fastener installation wherein a pair of fabric sections each has a folded portion and a slide fastener has a pair of carrier tapes, is completed by adhesively bonding each folded portion to its fabric section and each carrier tape to its corresponding folded portion.

United States Patent 191 2,768,922 10/1956 Klein ..24/205.l6R

'[ 11 3,823,445 Rivers 7 [4 July 16, 1974 r [5 ADHESIVE suns FASTENER 3,082,501 3/1903 Brown 24/205111 NS LL 3,561,073 2/197] Rosser 24/205.16 R t 3,685,103 8/1972 Severino 24/205.l R [75] Inventor: Anna Belle Rivers, Garden City,

73 Assi T t I P Primary Examiner-Bobby l l gnee ex mn nc ence Assistant Examiner-Darrell Marquette [22] Filed: July 18, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 272,998

[57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. 24/205-1 R, 24/205.16 R [51] Int. Cl A44b 19/00 A slide fastener installation wherein a pair of fabric Field Of Search 4/205- R, 205.1 C, sections each has a folded portion and a slide fastener 16 R220 R has a pair of carrier tapes, is completed by adhesively bonding each folded portion to its fabric section and References Cited each carrier tape to its corresponding folded portion.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures ADHESIVE SLIDE FASTENER INSTALLATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to slide fastener attachmerits, and more particularly to slide fasteners securely match the stitching thread color with that of the garment fabric, and the general or overall complexity of the sewing operation. These factors become even more important when mass-production installations are considered, as in the production of new dresses, jackets, tents, sleeping bags and the like.

The development of fabric bonding adhesives brought about slide fastener installation efforts employing these adhesives as the bonding medium between the slide fastener and garment, without the need for stitching. In general, these efforts have not proved to be fully satisfactory. The prior art, as exemplified by US. Pat. Nos. 2,768,922 and 3,561,073 is generally cognizant of adhesively bonded slide fastener installations which avoid the need for sewing the fasteners to the garment. In US. Pat. No. 2,768,922, a single adhesive'filmis provided on each carrier tape of the slidefastener tobe bonded to the exposedsurfaces of afolded back portion of a garment, with no provision for added bonding to the adjacent fabric sections of the garment, resulting in a bond which is vulnerable to stress and subject to failure. US. Pat. No. 3,561,073 reduces. this problem by the use of a plurality of adhesive strips affixed to each carrier tape of the slide fastener for the purpose of bonding the carrier tape to both. the exposed surface of a folded back portion of a garment as well as the adjacent fabric'sections of the garment. Although this double bonding arrangementtends to reduce the vulnerability of the bond to stress, it is still subject to failure. I

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is summarized in that a slide fastener includes a pair of fabric sections disposedto define an opening therebetween, each fabric section having a portion folded back upon itself along the opening, a slide fastener including a pair of carrier tapes aligned with the opening, and adhesive on at least one of the fabric sections disposed on the areaoverlayed by the folded back portion and extending beyond the area for bonding the folded back portion to its fabric section.

The method of installing a slide fastener to a garment at the partially coveredjarea and bonding a slide fashaving a pair of fabric sections and foldable back portions defining an opening comprises the steps of applying an adhesive to an area of at least one fabric section which is to be partially covered by an edge portion when folded back and partially exposed, folding back the edgeportion to partially cover the adhesive, bonding the folded back edge portion to the fabric section tener to the fabric section at-the partially exposed area.

- Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to facilitate the installation of a slide fastener in a garment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an end view of garment fabric sections having folded back edges.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the garment fabric sections of FIG. 1 with adhesive added.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the garment fabric section and adhesive of FIG. 2 with the folded back edges affixed to their respective fabric sections.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the fabric sections of FIG. 3 with a slide fastener displaced from its ultimate. position as shown by arrows. Y

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view, partially broken away, of a completed zipper installation.

FIG. 6 is a top plan 'view, partially broken away, of a completed zipper installation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, a portion of a garment shown generally at 10, having an opening 12 to be made closable, includes a first fabric section 14 and a second fabric section 16. Although separate fabric sections 14 and 16 are shown for the sake of clarity, it is to be understood that they may be parts of an integral fabric in a garment or may be parts of separate fabrics joined to gether, such as by a seam, to form a garment, but such details are not considered to be part of the invention and accordingly have been omitted from the drawings.

' Each fabric section 14 and 16 has folded back edge portions 18 and 20 along the opening 12 which generally have a widthof approximately inch. The use of folded back edge portions in a slide fastener installation is a common and well-known expedient for providing smooth and uniform fabric edges at the opening to be closed which are not subject to, fraying.

In FIG. 2, the folded back edge: portions 18 and 20 are angled back to a lesser degree than in FIG. 1 to facilitate the application of adhesive strips 22 and 24 to the fabric sections 14 and 16. The adhesive strips may be any known type but preferably will be of the thermoplastic type which will soften in response to the application of heat, such as from a conventional iron, and upon cooling will provide a lasting bond which is flexible and capable of withstanding normal machine washing or dry cleaning processes. In addition, the adhesive strips 22 and 24 may be liquid activated as an aid in positioning and retaining them in place relative to the fabric sections 14 and 16 and the folded back edge portions 18 and 20.

The adhesive strips 22 and 24 are positioned on the fabric sections 14 and 16 substantially parallel to the opening 12 to be closed such that the folded back edge portions 18 and 20 when folded back into contact with the adhesive strips 22 and 24, will cover approximately half of the total adhesive. I

In FIG. 3, foldedback edge portions 18 and 20 are completely folded back into contact with the adhesive strips 22 and 24. The surface of the adhesive strips 22 and 24 may be liquid activated as an aid in retaining the seam allowances'l8 and 20 in place prior to being permanently bonded. Approximately one half of each adhesive strip 22 and 24 remains exposed for the purpose of accomodating a slide fastener to be bonded thereby.

In FIG. 4 a slide fastener, shown generally at 30, is positioned adjacent the exposed adhesive portions prior to being affixed thereto in a final position as indicated by arrows. The slide fastener includes a pair of carrier tapes 32 and 34, usually made of fabric, to which are fixedly attached alternate ones of a series of interengagable coupling elements 36 which may be engaged or disengaged by use of a slide actuator (not shown) in a well-known manner.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show bottom and top views respectively of the zipper installation after the slide .fastener 30 and the folded back edge portions 18 and have been permanently bonded to the respective fabric sections 14 and 16. The method producing the completed slide fastener installation will now be described. As a first step, the fabric sections 14 and 16 of the garment are folded at their edges and positioned to form an opening 12 to be closed. An adhesive strip 22 and 24 is positioned on each of the fabric sections 14 and 16 such that approximately one-half of each strip will be utilized to affix the folded back edge portions 18 and 20 to the fabric sections and the remainder will be utilized to affix the tape carriers 32 and 34 of the slide fastener 30 to the fabric sections. The adhesive strips 22 and 24 may be applied before or after folding fabric sections 14 and 16 since the strips may be positioned with reasonable accuracy at either time. If the adhesive strips 22 and 24 are of the liquid activated type, they are moistened prior to application so as to be temporarily affixed in place on the fabric sections. The edge portions 18 and 20 are then completely folded back and are likewise temporarily affixed to the moistened adhesive strips, as shown in FIG. 3.

The slide fastener 36 is thereafter centrally positioned relative to the opening 12 formed by the fabric sections 14 'and 16 and is also temporarily affixed in place by the moistened liquid activated adhesive strips 22 and 24. An application of heat, such as from a conventional iron, is then provided to the temporarily affixed slide fastener installation for a period of time sufficient to soften the thermoplastic adhesive material which upon hardening thereafter, result in a permanently bonded slide fastener installation.

Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many variations, modifications and changes in detail, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

each fabric section having a fold defining folded back edge portion extending along the opening, a slide fastener having a pair of carrier tapes aligne with the folds, 'a single strip of thermoplastic adhesive disposed along each fabric section and being in substantially parallel relation to the opening,

each single strip of thermoplastic adhesive extending transversely from adjacent the opening and being disposed on a first area overlayed by said folded back edge portion and on a second area extending beyond said first area,

said folded back edge portion being adhesively secured to the first area, and

each carrier tape extending transversely from the opening and covering the folded back edge portion and the second area of its corresponding fabric section and being adhesively secured to the thermoplastic adhesive on said second area.

2. A slide fastener installation as claimed in claim 1 wherein each strip of thermoplastic adhesive is responsive to heat for effecting an adhesive bond between each folded back edge portion and the first area'of .its corresponding fabric section and between each tape and the second area of its corresponding fabric section.

3. A method of bonding the tapes of a slide fastener to a garment having a pair of fabric sections and foldable back edge portions meeting at an opening comprising the steps of:

applying a single strip of adhesive to an area of each of said fabric sections which is to be partially exposed;

folding back each edge portion to partially cover the adhesive;

bonding each folded back edge portion to the fabric section at the partially covered area; and

bonding the tapes of a slide fastener to the fabric sections at their corresponding partially exposed areas.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the adhesive is a thermoplastic adhesive and the steps of bonding include the application of heat to the adhesive. I

5. The invention of claim 3 whereinthe adhesive is applied in the form of a strip, and the folded back edge portion covers approximately one-half of the total adhesive applied to a fabric section. I

6. The invention of claim 3 wherein the adhesive is a liquid activated adhesive and wherein the step of applying an adhesive is preceeded by the step of liquid activating the adhesive to facilitate fixedly positioning the wherein the steps of bonding are effected by an application of heat. 

1. A slide fastener installation comprising a pair of fabric sections disposed to define an opening to be closed therebetween, each fabric section having a fold defining folded back edge portion extending along the opening, a slide fastener having a pair of carrier tapes aligned with the folds, a single strip of thermoplastic adhesive disposed along each fabric section and being in substantially parallel relation to the opening, each single strip of thermoplastic adhesive extending transversely from adjacent the opening and being disposed on a first area overlayed by said folded back edge portion and on a second area extending beyond said first area, said folded back edge portion being adhesively secured to the first area, and each carrier tape extending transversely from the opening and covering the folded back edge portion and the second area of its corresponding fabric section and being adhesively secured to the thermoplastic adhesive on said second area.
 2. A slide fastener installation as claimed in claim 1 wherein each strip of thermoplastic adhesive is responsive to heat for effecting an adhesive bond between each folded back edge portion and the first area of its corresponding fabric section and between each tape and the second area of its corresponding fabric section.
 3. A method of bonding the tapes of a slide fastener to a garment having a pair of fabric sections and foldable back edge portions meeting at an opening comprising the steps of: applying a single strip of adhesive to an area of each of said fabric sections which is to be partially exposed; folding back each edge portion to partially cover the adhesive; bonding each folded back edge portion to the fabric section at the partially covered area; and bonding the tapes of a slide fastener to the fabric sections at their corresponding partially exposed areas.
 4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the adhesive is a thermoplastic adhesive and the steps of bonding include the application of heat to the adhesive.
 5. The invention of claim 3 wherein the adhesive is applied in the form of a strip, and the folded back edge portion covers approximately one-half of the total adhesive applied to a fabric section.
 6. The invention of claim 3 wherein the adhesive is a liquid activated adhesive and wherein the step of applying an adhesive is preceeded by the step of liquid activating the adhesive to facilitate fixedly positioning the adhesive.
 7. The invention of claim 6 wherein the liquid activated adhesive is also a thermoplastic adhesive, and wherein the steps of bonding are effected by an application of heat. 